A Dagenham restaurant owner has been ordered to pay more than £3,000 after breaching smoke-free laws.
Mr Florin David Olteanu, 32, who runs Restaurant La Maria, was reprimanded after being caught hosting an illegal lock-in style party by Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officers.
The incident took place in the early hours of 17 October 2020, when council workers responded to noise complaints and breaches of Covid-19 regulations, which at the time prevented households mixing and imposed a curfew on hospitality businesses from 10pm.